Power-driven apparatus



A. G. ROSE POWER-DRIVEN APPARATUS July 1, 1 952 2 SHEETS--SHEET l FiledJuly 29, 1948 /nvenqp A. G. Resp.,

Attorneys July 1, 1952 A, G, ROSE 2,601,752

POWER-DRIVEN APPRATUS Filed July 29, 1948 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 mue/:furl:

A. G. Rose.. by

M i M Patented July 1, 1952 UNITED fifllllZ-:t` PGWERDRIVEN ABI'ARATUS:alfrediqermanfltose, Gainsborough, England.;

Application July 29, 1948,',\,SerialNo.l 411,292r- IIx-Great BritainAugust 8.11347" This invention relates Vvto poweredriven;agri-V culturalapparatus, orother apparatus of the. kind adapted to be manipulated byanoperator during perambulation. vention is to provide animproved;drivingand controlling means for such apparatus.

According to the invention, thereis provided an apparatus of the abovekind `wherein .rotation of the driving wheelor like driving member isVeffected by powerfactuated meansx under-the vinuence of a movableoperating member adapted upon movement to operate means eontrolling theaction of said powerfactuated; meansand by such operation cause; saiddriving: wheeler like memberte rotate in enetdireetienler the otheraeeordingto the dreetienofmovementef Said operating member.

The power-actuated means gmayv beinpthe form f a hydraulicmetemor'HuntersarrarigedA in drvneeonneeton with thedrivingzwheelorwheels 0r like. drivinamernber or membersand in such a case, thecontrolling means'may be' in .theferm of a hydraulic valveeonneetiug ther meter te t a Suitablev Seureeef hydraulelpewen ee., a pump, mounted.Outhe apparatus and driven. by a Suitable primemeven e., a, alim--terrlal Combustion engine., also meuntedfen the .l apparatus. Themovable Operatnezmembenmavbein the form 0f a hand-eriplifiablvmounted.

a. handle portienpfrthe apparates:forJueren A merit in forward andrearwa11ddireeti0us;relaf tively t0 the general direction., 012meremeutzef 1 the apparatus and suitably connected tei the. controllingvalve, the latterbeing-so constructed that its Operation bvb-movement efthe handerip inn forward and rearwardgdirections, respect-` tively,causesl the motorto rotate in.:dirruztionsA corresponding to forwardandfrearward mover'` ment of the driving wheel or wheels-or, like member ormembers. Theahand grip maybe arranged for rotational movementin additionff to sliding movement for thevpurposefof :differential control of apair. ofy oil motors. `e.l g., through a, differential valve disposedbetween theoil motors and themain valve receivingfthe the rotationalmovement of .the `hand igrips.-

In order toA avoid any creepingf of the apparatus e when left unattendedrw-ith `theMengine running there may bel provided in-connection-t withthe hand grip -a neutralisingfdevice adapted i automatically toretumfthwhand gripwtoA its neutral position. as :soonsas it f-isreleasedobye the operator.y l

An object of the in-n.

'45 main pressure and lexhaustlines from the maint valve, thedifferential valve beingoperatedA bypanying diagram-matic drawings; asapplied tor a L lawn mower;

Inthe drawings:

Figure l. isla/n elevation` of a lawnV mower constructed `in `accordancewith `the invention,

Figure yzfisaplanviewrofithe apparatus shown in Figure ,-1,' .and

Figure 3 isfadetail-of :the apparatus shown in Figures 1; and 2;drawntowa somewhat larger scale.

Referring toy the. drawings, the. general con- Structionof the lawnmower is of conventional type-wherei-nlthe cutting., cylinder I0 ismounted in;adarnaimframeworkY II, and. driven by chain ge ring I2fromrlone of a; pair ofnjuxtaposed` dri-ving; rollers I3 and I4 `bywhich the. mower is propelled along .the ground.;

The drivingY rollers I 3 y and I4.V are connected,

respectively; by; chains. I6 andi Il to..apair ofy differential shaftsI8 and I9 rotatably` mounted inpframes4 2|, andg22, exterirlngl from'the main framework Il, andin ardilerential housing 23 itself. Supported.onf` stays. 24 extending between 1 the;` frames 2l andv 22,Incorporated inr the housing; 23 is an oil motor;` 261:01 knownftypecomprising-astatonary euternmember and a; ro-

tzuzable,y inner member-y eccentrically mounted.

with respect to the axis of the outer; member andiprovidedwithradiallll,511(lablyi` varies, the outer; member,v being for-med; `with `pressureand exhaust. ports .for thegpassage ofthe Adriving oil. Ther rotatableinner;` memberv lofthe Aoil `motor 26o-is `connected by gear-mg yto adifferential gear of conventional typelcontrollingthe shafts` I3 and.|19 difierentally.

a bedplate 28 secured tovrthefmain, framework llandeenneetedftbvracoupling 279 to an internal.

conibustion engine,v generally indicated by refervencer numeral "3l,lsecuredtothe bedplate 28.

Oil is drawn from `arsuinp 32 fby` the` pump, 2l l through asuction..line-33.zand fed to, a controlling valve 34 througha.A main:pressure line, 36 in l The oil motor is fed by a pump 21 mounted onvpasses through a pressure line 38 to the pressure side of the motor 26and returns from the exhaust side of the motor to the valve 34 through areturn line 39, the oil finally returning to the sump 32 through a mainreturn line 4I. 'The pressure and return lines 38 and 39 areinterchangeable under the control of the valve r34 for forward andreverse directions.

The valve 34 in this example is the subject of United States Patent No.2,455,315, and details of its construction and operation need not,therefore, be described herein, reference being ,made to that patentspecication for further details. The valve 34 is provided with anactuating arm 42 which is connected by a link 43 to an arm 44 dependingfrom a rodV 46 pivotally mounted in a pair of bearing members 41attached to a handle portion 48 of the apparatus.

Secured to the rod 46 are a pair of forked armsV 49 bearing in grooves5l formed in a pair of operating members 52.

Referring particularly to Figure 3, the operating members 52 are each inthe form of a hand grip slidably mounted on a bearing shaft 53 extendingfrom the handle portionA 48. Arranged in a recess in the hand grip 52 isa spring 54 provided at its ends with flanges 55 and 56, respectively,slidably-mounted on the shaft 53 between a collar l secured to the shaft53 and av shoulder 58 on the shaft 53. The arrangement of the 'valveports is such that forward movement of the hand grips 52 operates thevalve to bring about rotation of the motor 26 in a directioncorresponding to the forward movement of the driving rollers I3 and I4,while rearward movement of the hand grips 52 causes reverse motion.

The valve 34 is of a very sensitive nature, being so constructed thatoperation of the motor 26 is substantially instantaneous upon operationof the actuating arm 42 by the sliding movement of the hand grips 52,and it will thus be seen that substantially immediately upon movement ofthe hand grips in a forward direction the mower starts to moveforwardly, and that when the hand grips are held stationary relativelyto earth, e. g., by the operator coming to rest, the mower comes to restsubstantially immediately, a slight hunting action taking place in thevalve 34 by virtue of the slight movement necessary to operate thevalve.

The spring 54, together with the fianges 55 and 56, the collar 5l andthe shoulder 58 constitute a neutralising device for avoiding creepingof the mower when left unattended with the engine running, the springautomatically returning the hand grips 52 to the neutral positionindicated in Figure 3 immediately upon release by the operator.

It will thus be seen that the mower is operated in a very simple andefficient manner with little or no exertion on the part of the operator,it being only necessary for the operator to push the hand grips 52 inthe direction of movement required, the mower automatically following ata speed determined by the rate of movement of the operator. -1

In order to 'facilitate the movement of the mower along the ground whenthe engine is not running, the sprockets 59 and 6l driving the chains I6and l1, respectively, are freely mounted on the shafts i8 and i9,respectively, and proto be manipulated by an operator duringperambulation, comprising a hydraulic motor for propelling theapparatus, a single controlling member including at least one hand gripslidably mounted on a handle portion of the apparatus for movement inforward and rearward directions relatively to the general direction ofmovement of the apparatus, a hydraulic system for operating said motor,said system including a hydraulic valve and a pump, said valve beingresponsive to the forward and rearward sliding vmovement of said handgrip for controlling the action of the motor, thereby causing theapparatus to move correspondingly in a forward and rearward direction,and a neutralizing device adapted automatically to return the hand gripto a neutral position upon release of the hand vided with spring-loadeddriving pins t2V which Y grip by the operator, said neutralizing devicecomprising an axial recess in the handle portion having a shoulder ateach end, a pair of xed stops on the handle portion adjacent theshoulders of the recess, a compression spring the end faces of which arearranged to bear against the shoulders of the recess and the fixed stopswhen the hand grip is inlits neutral position so that, upon movement ofthe hand grip on the handle portion in either direction, the spring iscompressed between the shoulder at one end of the recess and the fixedstop adjacent the other end of the recess whereby the spring is enabledto return the hand grip to its neutral position upon release by theoperator. Y

2, Power driven apparatus of the kind adapted to be manipulated by anoperator during perambulation, comprising a hydraulic motor forpropelling the apparatus, a hydraulic pump connected with said motor byconduit means forY supplying fluid under pressure to the motor, aninternal combustion engine for driving the pump, said pump and motorbeing mounted on the apparatus, a single controlling member including atleast one hand grip slidably mounted on a handle portion of theapparatus for movementA comprising an axial recess in the handle portionhaving a shoulder at each end, a pair of fixed stops on the handleportion adjacent the shoulders of the recess, a compression spring theend faces of which are arranged to bear against the Y shoulders of therecess and the xed stops when the hand grip is in its neutral positionso that, upon movement of the hand grip on the handle portion in eitherdirection, the spring is cornpressed between the shoulder at one end ofthe recess and the fixed stop adjacent the other end of the recesswhereby the spring is enabled to return the hand grip .to its neutralposition upon release by the operator.

3. In Aa power driven lawn mower of the kind comprising a main frameworkand a cutting cylinder mounted in the framework and driven by arotatable driving member arranged to propel the mower along the ground,a driving and controlling mechanism comprising a hydraulic motor mountedon the framework and ad-apted to cause rotation of said driving member,a pump mounted on said framework and connected with said motor byconduit means for supplying hydraulic fluid to said motor, an internalcombustion engine mounted on the framework and arranged in drivingengagement with the pump, a single controlling member including .atleast one hand grip slidably mounted on a handle portion of theframework for movement in forward and rearward directions relatively inthe general direction of movement of the mower, a hydraulic valve insaid conduit means responsive to the forward and rearward slidingmovement of said hand grip for controlling the action of the motor,thereby causing the mower to move correspondingly in a forward andrearward direction, and a neutralizing device adapted automatically toreturn the hand grip to a neutral position upon release of the hand gripby the operator, said neutralizing device comprising an axial recess inthe handle portion having a shoulder at each end, a pair of fixed stopson the handle portion adjacent the shoulders of the recess, acompression spring the end faces of which are arranged to bear againstALFRED GERMAN ROSE.

REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the le of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,138,667 Kitchen May 11, 19151,156,520 Beeler Oct. 12, 1915 1,426,902 Noel et al. Aug. 22, 19222,055,724 Irgens Sept. 29, 1936 2,367,466 Loy J-an. 16, 1945 2,417,613Radabaugh Mar. 1.8, 1947

